Winter Kale Salad with Squash

I went to a local Deli that I had recently discovered and they had a winter kale salad on the menu that I fell in love with.  Unfortunately, it was a seasonal and short lived item in the menu so I had to recreate my own version and I think mine is even better.

Salad

1 small Butternut squash

1 tablespoon butter (or olive oil)

salt & pepper

1/2 cup 5 grain mix* cooked to package directions

2 cups chopped kale

1/3 cup fresh chopped parsley

reduced fat blue cheese to taste

1/4 cup mixture of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds**

2 tablespoons home made vinaigrette 

Peel the squash and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  Add the squash to a saute pan with the butter/oil,  season with salt and pepper, and cook covered over medium heat stirring occasionally until just tender but not mushy and falling apart. 

Clean and chop kale and parsley and toss with vinaigrette.

Layer greens, squash, blue cheese, seeds, and grains in a bowl respectively.  Enjoy 

Vinaigrette

I a small mason jar add 

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon mustard of choice

salt & pepper

Place lid on mason jar and shake up the dressing.

* The 5 grain mix I use has spelt, barley, rice, Kanut, and oats

**I actually used Good Sense Dietary snack mix that has sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, almonds, and raisins. 

  

Asparagus and Morel Tart

Store puff pastry brushed with egg and cream and topped with home grown asparagus, morels, and Parmesan cheese.  This was good but the other one I made like this but with caramelized onion was better.  Yum.

Spinach and White Bean Gnocchi

Recently I was searching the web for some menu inspiration.  I have found that I have not been inspired much in the last year or so, all the recipes were not new or not for my family and going out to eat either leaves me feeling underwhelmed or overwhelmed but not inspired.  

My kids love gnocchi, they prefer in in tomato soup of all things, but I wanted to find a new vegetarian dish that I thought they would eat.  When I happened upon gnocchi with chard and white beans I was inspired.  I did not do the exact recipe but used it as a base for the following, which was a hit even with my hubby who is not a gnocchi fan.   Best of all this dish is FAST!

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoons 
1 16-ounce package gnocchi, I found Meijer brand in the freezer section and wow are frozen gnocchi so much better than the packages you find in the pasta area.
4 cloves garlic cut into little slices.
6 cups washed, fresh organic baby spinach 
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed
salt and pepper
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat a large pot of salted water to cook the gnocchi in.

While pot of water is coming to a boil heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add the onions and garlic and saute until translucent.  Add the tomatoes and spinach and cover until spinach is wilted. at this point the water should be boiling and ready for the gnocchi.  It only takes about 3 minutes for the gnocchi to float to the top of the water, when they do skim them off and add them to the skillet with the tomatoes and spinach. Stir in the beans, seasoning, and heat through.  sprinkle cheese over the top of dish and cover for about a minute until the cheese is melted.  Serve.  

Recipe from 64 sq ft kitchen

Muhammara

Recipe: Gourmet, December 1993
- 3 red peppers, roasted, seeded and peeled, or a 7-ounce jar roasted red peppers, well drained - 2/3 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted lightly and chopped fine
- 2 garlic cloves, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
- ¼ to ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Bread to spread on

I come back to this recipe over and over again and every time I have to search through my friend Warda's blog to find it so today I am going to save it here so I can find it easy. thanks for such a great dip, I love it!

Mac & Cheese In the Oven

My kids love homemade macaroni and Cheese and I love that I can make it a little better for them then the stuff out of the box. The secret to healthying (is that even a word) up this dish is tomato juice, but it does not just add a touch of healthy goodness but it adds a level of rich goodness and well it adds that orange color that, for some reason, kids want.

1 box pasta - I like Barilla plus penne

large post of boiling salted water

2 eggs

1 5.5 oz can V8

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1.5 cups milk

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

dash of nutmeg

1/4 cup cracker crumbs

Cook the pasta 2 minutes shy of being done. Mean while in a good sized sauce pan over medium heat melt the butter and then add the flour. Cook for 30 seconds to cook the flour taste out of the roux. add in the V8 and the milk, continue to stir the sauce to keep it from burning and getting lumps until it starts to boil. Remove the sauce from the heat and add in 2/3rds of the cheese, sour cream and nutmeg. Mix until all the cheese is melted.

Strain the pasta and stir in 2 beaten eggs then add the sauce and stir until all is well mixed together. Pour the pasta into a baking dish and cover with the remaining cheese and cracker crumbs.

place the mac & cheese in a preheated 400 degree oven and bake until the top is nice a golden anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes.

If you are making this for adults I found that a little hot pepper sauted in the butter before adding the flour adds a wonderful new level to this dish.

Molassas Glazed Carrots

4 medium to large carrots

1/3 cup broth or water

1 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons molassas

salt

pepper

Peel the carrots. cut the carrots about 1/4 inch this on a bias (at an angle). Add the carrots to a pan over medium high heat with the broth (I used chicken with this batch), cover and cook for about 5 minutes or until the carrots are just short of being cooked. Remove lid and let any liquid cook out. Add in the butter, sugar, molassas and seasoning. Stir to coat the carrots as the butter and sugar melts and remove from pan and enjoy with your meal.

Breaded Mushrooms

I saw this some where in cyberspace, can't remember where but it stuck in my head so I had to try it. Yep, breaded mushrooms. There were really great but one must be very careful not to end up with great balls of grease. I found fresh hot oil at about 1/4 inch worked well (next time I will try a spray of Pam). also the mushrooms should be about 1/8 to 1/4 inch too thick and it just does not cook right.

2 or 3 portobello mushrooms, sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick

1 egg

1T milk

1 cup bread crumbs

oil for cooking

salt

beat eggs with milk in a shallow dish for dipping the mushrooms. in another shallow dish put bread crumbs to dip the mushrooms. heat a pan, add oil up to about 1/4 inch, wait for the oil to ripple and place in mushroom slices that have been first dipped in egg mixture and then bread crumbs. Fry mushroom slices on one side until golden and turn and fry other side until golden. remove from pan onto a paper towel and season with salt.

Squash Bread

This is just wonderful bread and it was my 6 year old's idea. One day we had some very ripe bananas and my 6 year old thought it would be a good idea to make banana bread with them. I got online and found a recipe that was simple and easy for a 6 year old to follow.

She did a good job, with a little coaching, and made a good batch of banana bread. As we were eating our fresh warm bread she looks up at me and said this would be so good made with pumpkin. What a great idea so we went to the kitchen the next day and steamed up some sweet potato (it was the closest thing I had to squash or pumpkin in the house that weekend). That sweet potato made some killer bread too.

Since that day, a few months back now, we have worked out our squash break recipe to be something that we find outstanding.

1 to 3 butternut squashes, enough to make 6 cups of puree.

cut the squash into chunks, with skin on, and steam until tender. let cool and the remove the skin from the meat and mush up the squash meat to use in bread.

• 6 cups squash or pumpkin puree (do not used canned stuff, I could tell you stories that would make you want to wash out your mouth with a toilet brush, yes that bad)


• 2/3rd cup butter, melted (I will try to replace half of this with apple butter next time)


• 2 cups brown sugar


• 2 teaspoons vanilla


• 2 eggs


• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon


• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger


• 1/8 teaspoon cardamom


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 2 teaspoons baking soda


• 3 cups flour.


• 1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350F

mix flour, spices,baking soda and nuts in a bowl and set aside.

mix the squash, butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla until well blended. pour in the flour mixture and mix until all the white flour is just combined. pour into 2 oiled (I use cooking spray) loaf pans and bake for 1 hour.

Spring Rolls

My first try with spring rolls. They were a little short on flavor and texture being filled with peppers, bean sprouts, minced ginger, radishes Udon noodles (that is what I could find) and some cucumber. I went to White on Rice Couple after to figure out what I could do the fix this and they had tons of ideas, I now have to try those ideas.

Garlic Scape Pesto and Spring Squash

Here I am without my Camera. I don't know what it is but for some reason I do not keep my camera attached to my side anymore. It is not that I don't want to snap at everything that I see I just have not been. Maybe I am too busy talking to the kids about the stuff we see or (which is more the case) I feel up rooted and scatter brained. We have Moved back to Michigan from Mexico in March but we still do not have a place of our own to live in. While I have been staying with my parents and now house sitting for a friend and my dear husband 3 hours away working I just feel discombobulated.

Today my new neighbor and friend to the friend I am house setting for stopped by to pick me up and take me to the local farm market. the Rockford Michigan farm market is really nice, I enjoyed it so (still no camera) and while there I picked up garlic scapes, honey sticks (the kids were with me you know), zucchini & baby summer squash and young potatoes.

The woman that was selling the garlic scapes was giving a garlic scape recipe with ever purchase, I thought that was very nice and thoughtful of her. once I got home I looked at the recipe and did not have but only half of what the recipe called for. It went something like this...9 cut up garlic scapes (she was selling in bunches of 10, so this was good) pecans (hummm what does my friend have...oh look pine nuts (that is pestoy) Parmesan cheese, nope not that but look feta, ok lets try that then olive oil and salt and pepper. I ended up with a bright green gem all made in the vita-mix smoothy (nope my friend does not have a food processor, but the vita-mix worked well)

Garlic Scape Pesto
10 garlic scapes cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup of olive oil
salt
pepper
lemon juice

ok these measurements are approximate because I was just kinda dumping the stuff into the vita-mix but it turned out great.

Zucchini and Summer Squash

5 baby zucchinis
5 baby summer squashes
1T. olive oil
salt

wash the squashes and cut in half. heat a pan, once hot ad 1 tablespoon olive oil place zucchini and summer squash cut side down on hot oil, cook until browned, salt. set aside covers to let them soften just a little.

Cook while wheat spaghetti once done (take some pasta water and set aside) drain and toss pasta with the pesto (if dry add some pasta water) serve with cooked squash

Stuffed and Rolled

corn tortillas rolled around Mexican cheese (a kind that is a lot like ricotta) and onion and spinach topped with red salsa and cheese. bake at 350 until hot a bubbly

Veggie Burgers with Tiziki - worth 5

I have tried Boca burgers in the past and did not care for them. When I saw veggie burgers at Costco I was hesitant to buy them thinking that they would be like the boca burgers. These veggie burgers are not exactly like the Boca but you have to be very careful when cooking them or they just turn out to be a mushy grainy "patty". While Baking them did turn out nice I found that dry pan frying them over low heat works great, the low heat slowly warms the patty but more importantly it drys the patty out a little then crisps the outside for a really nice textured patty and the flavor of these veggie patties is very nice.

Photoed above was the veggie patty dressed up like a hamburger on a thin bun but I found that a tiziki sauce on the patty with a toasted thin bun and some onion and lettuce is the best.

low fat tiziki

1/4 cut grated cucumber that has been salted and squeezed of excess juice

2 tablespoons fat free plain yogurt (the zippy'er the better)

2 tablespoons fat free sour cream

1 to 2 cloves minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

mix all together in a bowl and top your veggie burger that was slowly pan fried without oil

thin bun, toasted, thin slice of onion and a leaf of nice crisp romain lettuce.

while the individual ingredients in the tiziki would not add up to any points I still count the tiziki as one point

total for a veggie burger with tiziki and bun is 5

served with a watermelon wedge and 1/2 cup tabbouleh (2 points) and cucumbers

Wheat Germ Pasta with Mushrooms

I picked up some wheat germ pasta at the store, not because I was planning a meal but because it was there and I had never tried it. After thinking about what the pasta might taste like I figured it would go well with onions and mushrooms so that is what I did. In the end the dish tasted ok but it really didn't look very good so it took a lot to get the kids to try it. They picked the pasta out and ate that and left the rest so that tells me to try the past again with another condiment

1 onion diced
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper
olive oil
wheat germ pasta
chopped parsley

start the pasta cooking in a large pot of salted boiling water
caramelize onion in oil then add the mushrooms and brown them a little, add the peppers and seasoning. add in the wine and cooked pasta with a little pasta water to make a sauce. top with chopped parley

Roasted Cauliflower

For the new year, just like half of the world, I am going to try to eat a healthier diet, exercise more and try to loss a few pounds that have found their way onto my body. So with that said my first post if 2010 is roasted cauliflower. Roasted cauliflower is one of my favorite veggie dishes and I add a little nutrition and flavor punch with diced red peppers and onions.

Preheat oven to 400F

cut a head of cauliflower into little bit size florets.
chop a red bell pepper into a small dice
chop a small onion into a small dice
3 tablespoons olive oil
course sea salt
fresh cracked pepper

place all ingredients in a bowl and toss to coat with oil. Pour the vegetables into a cast iron pan (cast iron gives a better browning) and bake the cauliflower in the oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until it is browned slightly and tender, be sure to stir the cauliflower ever 10 minutes or so.

By no means is this only way we make cauliflower in our house, my daughter loves hers steamed and one day I make cauliflower with a nice cheese sauce baked in the oven and she took one bit looked up at me with a look on her face and said "mom please don't make this with the uky sauce again" LOL she is such a purest.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Filling:
1 head bib or iceberg lettuce or any lettuce that will hold up as a wrap
2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 medium carrot
6 medium button mushrooms
1 small zucchini
one can water chestnuts
2-3 green onions
1/4 cut chopped peanuts
peanut oil
sesame oil

Sauce
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1.5 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 teaspoon pepper flakes, if you like it hotter.

dice the chicken into small (1/8th inch) cubes, place in a bowl and add a few dashes of soy sauce, a tablespoon of corn starch, stir and set aside. cut the carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, and water chestnuts into little cubes and put each in its own little bowl. Cut the green onion into little rounds like you would for any other Asian dish... you know just slice it and set aside.

mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Carefully pull the leaves off the head of lettuce and wash in cold water. dry the lettuce leaves and store in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that cold lettuce is crunchy and the filling will be hot and you looking for the contrast. I think keeping the lettuce very cold and adding the filling just before eating will give the best results.

Place a heavy bottomed pan or wok over high heat for about a minutes add about 2 to 3 tablespoons peanut oil and 1 tablespoon sesame oil and let it heat until the oil starts to ripple. Add in half of the chicken quickly stir it around and once it is browned all over remove and set aside in a clean bowl. Repeat with second half of chicken. Add another tablespoon of peanut oil and a tablespoon of sesame oil into the hot empty pan and add the carrots. cook stirring for about a minute then add the mushrooms, cook for another minute to 2 minutes and then add the zucchini and water chestnuts then add in the cooked chicken and sauce and cook for about 30 seconds to a minute or until the sauce thickens a little add the green onion and peanuts and serve.

This dish was a huge hit with the family. it was a little difficult to get the kids to try it because they thought it looked bad. But once they took a bite they could not get enough. Next time I make it I will have to double the batch.

if you would like to keep this vegetarian I think that little cubes of tofu could easily replace the chicken and I do plan to try it that way next week when I make this dish again. I am also thinking celery would be a nice element too.

Homemade Challenge March 09 - Bread

I have followed Ben's Blog, What's Cooking, off and on for some time now and recently he started a Homemade Challenge where each month there is a theme of something that you can make yourself. Month one (February) was homemade cheese. Well I missed the cheese I did manage to get involved in in March Homemade Challenge of making Bread.

At first I wanted to make some flat bread to go with a dish that I wanted to try that my friend Warda posted over at 64 sq ft Kitchen called Tchicha bel Khoubiz and then a few days later Diana Dyer posted her version of Tchicha bel Khoubiz over at 365 days of kale. I had this dish for the first time at a Food blogger get together last summer and enjoyed it very much. Thank you Warda! Please visit Warda's blog for recipe.

I made this dish for lunch on a day that I was making pizza for dinner so I too some of the pizza dough and pressed it out flat and cooked it on my cast iron pan. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it before it was gone making it hard to post it for Ben's challenge so a few days later I decided to make homemade flour tortillas and those I managed to get a photo of...

the tortillas are easy, here it is

1 cup flour
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
salt

mix dough, knead for 10 minutes. Let rest for 20 minutes. Divide into 6 equal balls. Roll out paper thin. Cook on hot pan for 30 seconds a side. Done!

Lentils and Rice

I enjoy lentils but I always eat them as soup and only the brown ones. One day the the market I saw beautiful orange and yellow lentils so I had to get them. After several weeks of good intentions and nothing else I still had not tried the colorful lagumes. Finally I looked up a recipe for a lentil and rice dish, several recipes as a mater of fact, and I could not find a one that I had every ingredient for so I came up with a combination that I hoped would work. The dish was not bad but it still needed a little something, some life. I will try again and I hope that I figure out what the something is that will give this dish some real life.



1 med onion, diced
olive oil
1 cup lentils
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup frozen spinach


In a sauce pan cook lentils as directed by the package (usually about 2 to 1 water to lentils and simmer for about 30 minutes, I like mine firm).

Meanwhile saute pan saute the onions in some olive oil over medium heat until the onions become translucent. add in the spices and let them cook in the hot oil and onions for about 1 minute then add the garlic. Add the rice, spinach and cook lentils to the onion and spices and cook together for another 5 minutes adding water if needed.

My First Souffle

I always wanted to try making a souffle but I never wanted to waste all the eggs it would take to make a souffle that would fit in any of the oven proof souffle type dishes I had. Then Warda over at 64 sq ft kitchen posted souffles on her blog and they looked so beautiful and flavorful. I mentioned to her how much I wanted to try it and why I had not yet done so and she reminded me of the ramekins that I purchased for the Daring Baker challenge back in October and then I got more for Christmas. She was so right and I went to work, following her recipe, to make my first souffle. Of course I had to make a few changes because lets face it what food blogger out there can follow a recipe to the T.

~Souffle~

- 4 ½ tbsp butter, plus 1 tsp to coat the ramekins

- ¾ cup grated Gruyère cheese-

- 3 onions, chopped

- red bell peppers, chopped

- 1 ¼ tsp sea salt

- 4 ½ tbsp flour

- 1 ¼ cup milk

- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

- ½ tsp old style Dijon mustard

- A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

- 3 egg yolks

- 7 egg whites

- Make Ahead: Take the eggs out of the fridge, and let them come at room temperature. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pan and saute the onions and peppers season with ¼ tsp salt. Cover and cook for 5 min on medium-low heat until they are tender. Uncover and continue cooking for a few minutes on high heat until all the liquid has been evaporated. Set aside to cool.

1- Butter a 1½- quart souffle mold with 1 tsp soft butter. Be sure it is well coated all around.Add the Gruyère cheese and turn the mold around so that the cheese sticks to the butter. Let the extra cheese fall into a bowl. Refrigerate the coated mold. A very cold mold helps the souffle rise straight. Never smear the coating or you mat disturb the rising of the mixture.

2- Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Stir quickly, and cook for 1 minute on low heat.3- Add the milk, 1 tsp salt, black pepper, the Dijon mustard and bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk. As soon as it reaches the boiling point, the sauce will thicken. Boil on low heat for 1 min, still stirring to avoid scorching.

4- Away from the heat, add the yolks and mix well.

5- Add the onion, ground nutmeg and the grated Gruyère cheese. Stir with a wooden spoon.

6- Whip the egg whites until they hold a peak, but are still “wet”. Place about one-third in the leek mixture and mix with a whisk. Work as fast as you can, because as soon as you stop beating the whites, they start to break down and become grainy.

7- Using a spatula, gently fold the remaining whites and onion mixture together.

8- Fill the soufflé mold to the edges. At this point, the soufflé can be refrigerated, and will keep for at least a couple of hours. At baking time, sprinkle some Gruyere cheese on top and place on a cookie sheet in a 375F-preheated oven. Reduce the heat to 350F and bake for 30-35 minutes (about 25 minutes for individual ramekins). Never open the oven when it’s still baking. Serve immediately.

The great thing about using Warda's blog post is she included step by step photos with the instructions making this something that almost anyone can make even, if they are not experienced cooks or are intimidated by the idea of a souffle. Thanks Warda

Hot and Sour Soup

My husband loves Thai hot and sour soup and his favorite comes from Bangkok Kitchen in Farmington Hills. While this soup is not quite like the one at Bangkok Kitchen it is a great start and I would found it here. My Hubby thought this has a little too much vinegar and it needed chicken or tofu. I confess I did not have chicken or tofu on hand and I agree that it would have been nice and I could not find the chili garlic sauce at the store. This is a make again dish for sure; however, I will start to make some changes

6 cups vegetable stock

3 slices ginger

2 fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced (I used dried, rehydrated because that was what was available)

1/2 cup enoki or straw mushrooms

1 wood ear mushroom, rehydrated, cut into thin strips

1/2 cup fresh bamboo shoot, slivered (I don't care for these so I did not add, I think I will next time)

1 cup firm tofu, diced (missed this too will add this or chicken in the future)

1 carrot, julienned

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh water chestnuts or sunchokes, diced

2 TB soy sauce1 TB mushroom-flavored dark soy sauce

1/2 TB sesame oil

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 TB chili garlic sauce (I could not find this at the store, maybe did not know where to look)

1 TB sugar

1 tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. roasted chili powder (optional)

4 TB cornstarch dissolved in

4 TB cold water

1 egg, beaten (optional) (really only need 1/2 an egg)

green onions, chopped, for garnish

cilantro, for garnish (I must have the anti-cilantro gene because it tastes like soap to me so I used parsley)

Add stock and ginger to pot, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove ginger and add all remaining ingredients except cornstarch mixture, egg, and garnishes. Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil until thickened. Immediately remove from heat and begin dripping spoonful's of the beaten egg into the hot soup as you stir the soup with the other hand (this creates a nice ribbon effect). Ladle into bowls and serve. Garnish with chopped green onions, a sprig of cilantro, and a few drops of chili-sesame oil (rayu).

I think a squeeze of lemon or lime juice at the end would be nice too, maybe.

I hope to some day get close the to Thai soup that Hubby so loves but until then we have this, which was a great chinese hot and sour soup.

Asparagus Frittata

One of my favorite vegetables is asparagus and one of my daughter's is asparagus but she likes hers blanched, ice bathed and course salt added to it. I am happy that this time of year it is everywhere and we are eating it like crazy.

One evening last week I decided to make Frittata; unfortunately, it did not go over well with the family, but I liked it. I believe that the reason this did not go over so well is there was too much asparagus, I did use a whole pound.

you will need:

• 5 or 6 stalks of Asparagus
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup cream or milk ( I used cream because I had some left over from The Daring Baker Challenge)
• 1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
• salt & pepper

First cut the asparagus into smaller pieces and blanch for 2 minutes in salted water and drain and set aside.

Turn on the broiler to low.

Heat an 8" cast iron pan and add in the butter and asparagus. In a bowl beat the eggs and add the cream half of the cheese and seasoning and whip a little air into the eggs with a fork. Pour the eggs over the asparagus. Shake and stir the eggs a little until set on the bottom. Cover the frittata with the rest of the cheese and place under the broiler until the eggs rise, set and brown a little.